


Potter's Arx

by mosteveryonesmad



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Multi, Voldemort never got to Godric's Hollow, Wolfstar adopts Hermione, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:00:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26919238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mosteveryonesmad/pseuds/mosteveryonesmad
Summary: Sirius rescues Hermione.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 31
Kudos: 200





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, a wild prompt popped into my head and this is what came out. 
> 
> Prompt: What if Sirius/Harry/Potters kidnapped Hermione for her own good? 
> 
> What came out is this one-shot (for now).
> 
> This is a world in which the Potters + Sirius and Remus are holed up in Potter's Arx and not Godric's Hollow behind some fierce war wards. Therefore Voldemort never got to Harry and the war is still going on. The Potters, Sirius, Remus + others are doing their best to protect young muggle-borns from being murdered by Death Eaters when Sirius happens across Hermione...and this happens.

This was a dumb decision and honestly, it appalled him that it wasn’t even illegal. Definitely, something he would need to work on. Eventually. But for now, it served him…in probably the most grotesque way possible but… he was saving her life, right?

She was quiet, in her cot, in their makeshift infirmary, observing everything around her with a methodical gaze. And when Lily raised her wand to heal the various cuts, bruises, and — James winced — broken arm, Hermione watched her with careful, calculating eyes. Merlin the girl would’ve probably been a Slytherin if this blood-war still wasn’t going on.

He heard Lily softly explaining everything she was doing when Sirius walked through the door. Hermione jumped at the sight of him.

“It’s alright,” Lily soothed, “He’s—”

But Hermione had jumped up, ran over, and wrapped her good arm around him. Sirius, for all his faults as an adult, had plenty of practice with children. He slowly kneeled and wrapped her carefully into a hug.

“Hey kitten,” he said with a smile, “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Hermione had her face buried in his chest, refusing to let go.

“Up we go,” Sirius said as he lifted her up and walked her back over to Lily. Hermione made a noise of distress when Sirius shifted away. “Don’t you worry kitten. I’m just going to be right over there and when you’re all healed up we’ll get some hot chocolate. How does that sound?”

Hermione frowned, glancing over at him, before turning back to Sirius. “You swear you won’t leave?”

“I solemnly swear,” Sirius said with his childish grin.

Only years of friendship allowed James to see how worried Sirius was. He put a muffling charm over their conversation as soon as Sirius was by his side.

“Report?” James asked.

Sirius growled low before shifting back to a smile once he turned around for Hermione to see his face. He kept his face happy and light for her as his words were anything but.

“It’s bad enough trying to stop Death Eaters from killing muggle-borns but to stop actual muggles from…” Sirius took a deep breath. “Her own parents, Prongs. I…they’re lucky to be alive.”

James squeezed Sirius’s shoulder. “You got to her in time. And she’s safe now.”

Sirius nodded, breathing out slowly. “She’s the same age as Harry. They should be out flying toy brooms not…”

“Not stuck in a heavily warded home while their parents fight a war?” James laughed harshly. “We’ll win Sirius. It’s just…taking longer than we expected.”

Sirius nodded again but stayed quiet for a long time. They both watched Lily and Hermione watched them, keeping a careful eye on Sirius.

“I’m going to talk to Remus,” Sirius said when it was clear Lily was almost done.

“About what?”

“Her. Hermione. She… She reminds me of him in a way,” Sirius struggled to find words for the emotions that had risen in him when he had first seen her. James made a confused noise, about to speak, when Sirius added, “Her name is a star too, did you know? A newer one, that Muggles found but…”

James let out a huff of surprise before relaxing. He said quietly, “I think you and Remus would be great dads.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this a while ago without really thinking it through and I got a lot of comments about how Hermione's perceived age and the off-hand comment Sirius makes about her being 10 -- and I agreed with many readers that she acted younger than that. And so I made her younger (five).


	2. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted for EAD -- super rough and barely spell-checked but, you know, in the spirit of EAD

1985

Hermione had been at the house for a few months now. And while she liked James and Lily and Frank and Alice well enough, even as biased as he was, Sirius knew she liked him and Remus best.

It felt unfair to feel this way towards her, like she was his daughter, when he knew she wasn’t old enough to really understand. But…she was smart. Remus read with her and she was a bright, intelligent girl. And he loved her. It was instant, the day he rescued her from her parents, Sirius knew she was meant to be his daughter, meant to be his and Remus’s child.

Remus agreed too. They would lie in bed together and whisper about the possibility of it. Of a Hermione Rhea Black or Lupin. Sirius didn’t care either way, just that she would be their daughter, theirs to love and cherish.

But Sirius wanted it to be permanent. Especially with everything going on in the war, and the muggleborns being murdered…he wanted to do a blood adoption.

Which was why he was here now. At his least favorite place on Earth.

He didn’t have Floo access…not that many houses were linked to the Floo network anymore—talk about an easy access point for You-Know-Who. So he apparated to the park nearby under James’s cloak.

The door was locked, unsurprisingly. He knocked, and thanks the gods that his mother passed away a few years ago.

Kreacher answered door, “Ungrateful Master Sirius be here, why he be here, Kreacher knows not, not…”

“Morning Kreacher,” Sirius slid inside the house before Kreacher could close the door on him.

“Oh poor mistress, if she were to see…”

“Reggie!” Sirius called as he climbed up to the library.

The door to the library opened and Regulus stuck his head out, eyes wide in surprise. “Sirius? What are you doing here? Did anyone see you?”

“Nope, got the cloak.”

Regulus frowned but stepped back as Sirius walked in. “What are you doing here then? Any news on…?”

Sirius shook his head. “No news.” Sirius glanced around the library, which in his memory had always been very organized. It was not anymore. Sirius raised an eyebrow at Regulus. “And you?”

Regulus shook his head. “I found a book that talked more about _it_ but nothing about how to _destroy_ it.”

“Shame.” Sirius shuddered thinking about _it,_ the necklace currently hidden in the basement vault of the house that had always seemed excessive until a few years ago when Regulus had shown up at his flat, soaking wet, seemingly dying of poison with an atrociously dark object clutched between white-knuckled fingers.

“So?” Regulus raised an eyebrow. “Why are you here then?”

Sirius looked at the mess of the library again and sighed. He would definitely have to tell him. He hoped that Regulus’s distaste for You-Know-Who had evolved into accepting muggleborns.

“I’m looking for a book about blood adoption,” Sirius said slowly, watching Regulus’s face carefully. 

Both of Regulus’s eyebrows disappeared into his fringe. “You and the wolf want to adopt? _Now_?”

“ _Remus_ and I want to adopt, yes. There…” In for a penny, in for a pound. Sirius sighed. “I rescued a muggleborn girl a few months back. She’s five and…”

“A girl?”

“Yeah! What’s wrong with that?”

Regulus sighed dramatically. “You’re still the heir! You need an heir, you know!”

Sirius waved his hand. “I was disinherited. You worry about conceiving an heir.”

“No, you weren’t. Being burned off the tapestry in a fit of rage by Mother doesn’t mean Grandfather Arcturus disinherited you.”

Sirius did not want to worry about that right now. “Are you going to help me find the book or not?”

Regulus sighed. Again. But stomped over to a pile of books in the far left corner. “This one.” He said, shoving an old, leather-bound book in his hand. “At least blood adopt her, so she’s no longer a muggleborn.”

Sirius growled. “There’s nothing wrong with being muggleborn!”

“Right now there is!”

Sirius apparated out of the house so he didn’t have to admit that Regulus was right.

He appeared in Potter’s Arx’s foyer with two wands trained on him.

“When did you first kiss me?”

Sirius frowned at Remus. “You arse. You kissed me first in fourth year in the library.”

Remus grinned as he stowed away his wand. Alice, on the other hand, ran through the usual checklist of spells, checking for magical trackers, Imperius curse, potions, and the like.

“How much longer are you on door duty?” Sirius asked Remus, holding up the book with a significant look.

“We’re done,” Alice answered, packing her wand. “You’re the last one back.”

Sirius grinned at Alice, “Saved the best for last, per usual.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how Remus deals with you, I swear.”

Sirius leered and opened his mouth to answer when Remus flicked his ear. “Down dog.”

Sirius pouted as Alice laughed. “Oh now I get it.”

As they walked through the door, Alice turned back around to secure it. “Go on,” she waved them off, “I’ll get this.”

Remus weaved his fingers through his own and led him into the main wing of the house. “We should let ‘Mione know you’re back,” Remus smiled, soft and wispy, “She would want to know.”

Sirius grinned widely. They only left the house for missions, so it was rare indeed for either of them to be gone. Today was the first time Sirius had been gone during the day since she got here. She didn’t like to be separated from them. And honestly, Sirius didn’t like it either.

They entered the playroom/schoolroom where Hermione, Harry, and Neville were playing. James was with them, on the floor, play acting as a dog or dragon or some animal. Sirius didn’t really notice or care, because as soon as he walked in the room, he heard Hermione screech in delight and run over to him.

He scooped her up in his arms and swung her around. “How’s my little kitten doing?”

She giggled as she wrapped her arms around him. “Uncle James is supposed to be a dragon but he’s not very fer—ver-osh-is.”

“Ferocious?” Remus questioned, sliding next to him with a soft hand on his back.

“Right.” She nodded seriously as she tried again to say it, “Fer-fer-o-sis.”

Sirius fought a back a laugh, knowing she would see it as derision, rather than him enjoying how unbelievably adorable she was. Not for the first time, he wondered if Remus was like this when he was young.

“Right, well, you’re right, Uncle James isn’t fierce at all.”

“Hey!” James yelled from the floor, where he was covered by two rambunctious toddlers, “I think I’m pretty fierce. C’mon on, ‘Mione, tell them I’m fierce.”

She shook her head, giggling again. “Not scary at all.”

James placed a hand on his forehead dramatically. “I’m wounded!”

She giggled again, but this time snuggled deeper into Sirius’s embrace. He cuddled her close, enjoying the feeling of holding his hopefully daughter with Remus at his side.

“Done with lessons today, Pads?” Remus asked.

James nodded, wrangling with the Harry and Neville who were clinging to his legs.

“Great, where’s Lily?”

Sirius glanced to Remus, curious as to where he was going with this.

“Office, I think, maybe Potions lab, why?”

Remus waved him off, turning to him and Hermione. “Kitten, do you wanna come with us? We’d like to talk to Aunt Lily with you?”

Hermione nodded but squeezed his neck tighter. “Why do we need to talk to Aunt Lily?”

Sirius rubbed her back soothingly. “I don’t know either kitten but we trust…Remus right?” Papa or Dada. He wondered which one Remus would prefer.

She nodded again as Remus led them to the office, where Lily was sitting, rifling through papers. Her head jerked up as they walked in.

“Hey Lily,” Remus said.

“Hey you three.” Lily quirked a brow at Remus and he nodded.

Huh. What did Remus have planned that he didn’t share with him?

She reached her hands out to take Hermione, which he did not like—and Hermione didn’t seem too keen either—but he reluctantly transferred her to Lily as Lily said, “And how was your day today Hermione?”

Hermione frowned at Sirius before answering dutifully. “It was okay. I woke up early when…Sirius said goodbye and then I couldn’t sleep so I found…Remus and he read to me and then I had breakfast and then…” She continued on for a few more minutes, describing her day with surprising detail.

Sirius wondered if he was the only one who heard her slight hesitations before saying his or Remus’s name. Everyone else had quickly becoming “Aunt” or “Uncle” but not them two. He refused to think it was for any other reason than she wanted to call them Papa and Dada. He refused. There was no other option. He hoped.

Remus squeezed his hand as Hermione stopped describing her day.

“Hermione, dear, you know how we took you away from a bad place,” Lily started slowly.

“I’m not going back!” Hermione shrieked at once, wiggling from Lily’s grip, and running back to Sirius.

He scooped her up again and cuddled her shaking body tight to his chest.

“Never ever kitten,” Sirius said, kissing her head. Remus ran a hand through her curls, whispering soothing words.

Lily sighed sadly. She had been meeting with Hermione, along with the other children who had been rescued, every week, but Hermione was so far the youngest and it was harder to explain the circumstances to a five-year-old than a ten-year-old. And a ten-year-old wasn’t much better.

“Remus,” she said softly and waved her hand. Once again, Sirius wondered what Remus and she had planned for this meeting.

“Hermione, love,” Remus started, taking a deep breath when she peeked at him from the corner of her eye, most of her face still hidden in Sirius’s neck. “You are never going back there, we promise. Okay?”

Hermione nodded but didn’t move besides that.

Remus smiled softly. “Now…you know how Aunt Lily and Uncle James are Harry’s parents?”

She nodded again, her grip slightly loosening on Sirius.

“And they love and care about Harry.”

“And they don’t hurt him,” Hermione whispered.

Remus smiled encouragingly. “That’s right. Because, because _good_ parents never hurt their kids. Right?”

She nodded. “My parents weren’t good.”

Sirius squeezed her tight and kissed her head to stop himself from cursing or crying or both. She was so much like Remus but moments like this reminded him too much of _him_.

Remus scooted closer to them, wrapping an arm around Sirius’s shoulders and running his hand through Hermione’s hair again.

“That’s right,” he said again, “And Sirius and I are never going to let them hurt you again.”

Hermione’s eyes welled with tears as she nodded and Sirius looked to Remus in alarm. He did not want her to cry. Why was she crying? Why were they having this conversation now?

“I want good parents,” Hermione sniffled.

Oh god. What if she didn’t want them to be her parents? Had she thought of this before? Sirius opened his mouth but no words came out.

Remus, however, was still smiling gently, leaning down so he was eye level with her. “Kitten, would you like Sirius and I to be your parents?”

“Really?” She shuffled a bit in his arms to look up at Sirius. “Do you…Both of you will be my dada?”

Her big, brown eyes stared up at him and he nodded jerkily, a knot forming in his throat.

“Yeah kitten,” he choked, “I can be Dada and Remus can be Papa or…”

Tears started rolling down Hermione’s cheeks and Sirius shot a horrified look at Remus but Remus was also crying and smiling. So he looked back to Hermione who was nodded quickly.

“No one will take me away from you right?”

Sirius started crying before he could stop it. He held Hermione tighter to him and felt Remus wrap his arms around the both of them.

“No one is taking you away from us, kitten,” Sirius managed to say. “You’re our daughter.” Our precious baby.

Remus pressed a quick kiss to his lips before peppering kisses on Hermione’s face. “Our little kitten.”

///

Remus smiled at the two of them. The adoption ritual was exhausting, especially for Sirius, who Remus had finally been able to convince should lead the ritual. Their daughter— _daughter_ —was officially Hermione Rhea Black. There had been a few physical changes; her eyes, which had been hazel, were now a dark green-gray, a perfect mix of their eye colors, and her hair, still a curly mess, shifted into a glossy black color just like Sirius’s.

She was perfect.

And currently snuggled into Dada’s arms, as they slept away their exhaustion from the ritual.

Remus just stared, a stupid giddy smile on his face from the door.

James nudged him in the shoulder. “How you feeling _Pops_?”

Remus chuckled. “I think I got Papa, actually.” Remus glanced over at Prongs, his face spilt into a huge grin. “Incredible. Amazing. Maybe high on ritual magic.”

James laughed loudly and Remus elbowed him. “Shh!” But at most James’s laugh caused the two to cuddle closer. Remus waved his wand, casting a safety charm to make sure Sirius didn’t accidentally roll on top of Hermione.

James sniggered. “You’re a natural.”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Probably ‘cause I’ve been a father of…a father since first year.” Remus swallowed thickly; he had almost said “a father of three” but his third ‘son,’ their fourth best mate was gone. And had been for years now, leaving so many unanswered questions.

Why did Voldemort kill Peter? How long had he been a Death Eater? Was he trying to defect, to get away like Regulus, or did he disappoint Voldemort in some way? They would never know. And now his death was all mixed up with pain and anger and regret and confusion. And most days, it was just better to forget.

“You gonna wake them up for dinner?” James asked quietly, no doubt dealing with the inadvertent mention of Peter in his own way, by changing the subject.

Remus shook his head. “Let them sleep. Besides it’s good bonding.”

“Should we send some dinner up for you then?”

Remus shot him a look of surprise. He had planned to go down to dinner himself.

James rolled his eyes, sighing loudly and dramatically. “Merlin, Moony, you’re bonding too. So you’ll stay here and watch those two sleep with stars in your eyes and we’ll send Minny up with some food.”

Remus nodded numbly. James pushed him in the room and shut the door behind him. He stared at the bed for a moment before quietly walking over, sliding in next to Sirius and running his hand through Hermione’s hair. She shifted a little in her sleep, smiling, her hands clutching Sirius’s shirt.

Remus knew they had a bond, one that he wouldn’t, couldn’t interfere with. Sirius was the one who rescued her and she saw him as a point of safety. She wondered how he saw her. She liked him, he knew, and trusted him, and if Sirius wasn’t around, she preferred him to all others. Remus wondered what his relationship would be like with his daughter. He hoped it would be something like the relationship he had with his mother. Love, and trust, and comfort, and safety — he hoped she would always feel comfortable coming to him with a problem or an idea.

Minny popped in with food and placed it quietly on the desk with a smile. When she popped out, Sirius shifted awake.

“Hey,” Remus whispered.

Sirius shifted a little, lifting the safety charm with a push of his magic, before gazing down at Hermione. He grinned so widely that Remus’s heart stuttered.

Was it fair? That they were so happy? When so many people, so many parents, were losing their own children in this blood war? And they, by happenstance, gained a child? He shook the thoughts from his head. He wasn’t going to question fate anymore. Because it was. It was fate that Hermione came into their lives and it was fate that she was theirs, always meant to be theirs.

Remus heard Sirius’s stomach grumble. “Hungry?” Remus moved to get out of the bed and get him food.

“Wait.” Sirius moved and slowly, carefully, shifted Hermione from his chest to Remus’s.

Remus made a noise of shock but immediately wrapped his arms around Hermione. She shifted, mumbled a bit in her sleep, but after she took a few deep breaths, she seemed to smile again and settled back to sleep.

Remus’s heart stuttered again.

“She’s perfect,” he said as Sirius got up to get food.

“She is.” Sirius then laughed. “She’s going to be unbearably arrogant when she’s older.”

Remus chuckled quietly. “With your arrogance, my intelligence, and the two of us telling her how perfect she is every day? Yeah, she’s going to make first-year James look positively humble.”

“Oh god,” Sirius turned to him, eyes wide, “Wait, wait, we have Lily.” Sirius sighed. “She’ll make sure Hermione is kind, like Lily is.”

Remus raised an eyebrow. “First-year Lily was a nightmare too.”

Sirius frowned and then shrugged. “You know what. She’s perfect. Who needs to be humble anyways?”

Remus chuckled again but snuggled closer to Hermione, placing a kiss to her forehead. “That’s true. And she already has friends so it won’t matter how arrogant she is.”

Sirius loaded two plates up and brought them back to bed. They ate quietly, shifting Hermione from one lap to another, and then finally feeding her when she woke up. She fell quickly back asleep, but not before, telling them in her serious little voice that they were a perfect family and they were the best dads ever.

Sirius and he grinned at each other. She was _their_ daughter.

“Good night kitten, I love you,” Sirius said, kissing her on the forehead, as she snuggled into Remus’s side.

Remus wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead too. “Good night Hermione, I love you.”

“Good night Dada, good night Papa,” she mumbled, sleep overcoming her as she said, “I love you too.”

It was the perfect first night as a family.

Remus sighed, as he brushed the hair from her face. “I hope…” But he could barely say it aloud. The war had been going on for years now, so many years, and while neither side was losing, neither were winning either. A stalemate, for years now. But he wanted his daughter to live in a world free of war, free to go to Diagon Alley, free to go to Hogwarts in six years. When would the war end?

Sirius brushed a kiss to his lips. “Me too, Moony, me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's also a little snippet for this story in my EAD story/post because it's a small scene and I don't know where to put it yet

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, this is a one-shot (for now). I'm working on the BB2 and Unusual Magic and like 4 other stories (some original fiction too) so I'm not going to add to this for a while. 
> 
> But one day, if people are interested, I may make this a story.


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